Boxing's Greates Writer Dies

 

Boxing’s Greatest Writer Dies

On Sunday, March 25^th, the boxing world lost another icon with the passing of the sport’s greatest writer, Bert Randolph Sugar. Flags at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York were lowered to half-mast to honor the passing of this literary lion of the prize ring.

There is never a good time to die, of course, but Bert’s death will be taken very hard by everyone in the boxing community, coming as it does, less than two months after the passing in early February, of boxing’s greatest trainer and ambassador, Angelo Dundee. I was privileged to have had a close relationship with both men, which greatly influenced my life.

Bert and Angelo were close friends. Their friendship went back fifty-four years. Bert helped Angelo write his second autobiography, My View From The Corner.  I was lucky enough to have befriended Bert Sugar in June of 2004 during my first visit to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. I went that year, and every year subsequently with my mentor and close friend, Angelo Dundee. Angelo was kind enough to introduce me to Bert on that beautiful sunny day some eight years ago. Bert was sitting down in a booth on the Hall grounds surrounded by many of his books, which were for sale. Bert’s books sold out usually within minutes. He autographed every single book he sold, putting huge smiles on the faces of his multitude of fans.

Bert was always gracious and gregarious when mingling with boxing fans. He happily posed for photographs with hundreds of his fans every year during Hall of Fame weekend. Fight fans very much looked forward to seeing Bert in his standard get-up, which consisted of his trademark fedora, Dominican cigars and colorful clothing. He was just as colorful and charismatic in person as he was on TV, if not more so.

Bert Sugar was called, "The Greatest Boxing Writer of the 20th Century" by the International Veterans Boxing Association. Truer words have never been spoken. Whenever you saw him on TV, you automatically knew they were talking about the sport of boxing. 

Perhaps no other writer of the 20^th century has been so associated with any sport as Bert Sugar was with boxing. I was one of the privileged few who knew him as both a friend and a colleague. One thing is certain. Bert Sugar knew more about boxing history than any other historian or writer who ever lived. Bert never boasted about his vast knowledge of boxing history. He didn’t need to. His love for the sport was written all over his expressive face. Bert was always working on his next boxing book or article. He felt that there was much more to be written about the sport he so loved.

Bert was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the non-participant category in 2005. I was there that summer and I watched him make his induction speech. True to form, Bert was funny, irascible and very entertaining that day. He put on an entertaining show for all those in attendance. 

Bert was a brilliant man with Mensa level intelligence. Bert was also a natural raconteur. You could ask him a question about any era in boxing history, and he always had a fascinating and funny story to perfectly illustrate his point. Bert was a veritable human warehouse of boxing knowledge. He fervently believed that to be a good boxing writer and journalist required an insatiable and unquenchable thirst to constantly learn more about boxing and it’s history.

Bert was an American original. He was a self-made creation. Over time it became difficult to tell where the creation ended and the real Bert began.  It didn’t really matter though as Bert was beloved by his fans and friends alike. He realized early on in his career that there were a lot of excellent and outstanding boxing writers covering boxing in the United States.

Award-winning titans of the keyboard such as Jimmy Cannon, Grantland Rice, Damon Runyon (Bert’s favorite writer), Jim Murray and Edwin Pope were all excellent craftsmen with unique and award-winning writing styles. Bert realized he was in heady company and needed some way to distinguish himself amongst his peers.

Bert found great success in boxing by becoming a colorful, charismatic and outsized personality who lived his life in italics while the rest of his peers existed in regular print. Fighters always opened up to Bert because of his empathetic ear and sympathetic words.

Bert had a wonderful flare for the dramatic, which, when combined with his engaging speaking style often made him as big a story as the fighters he was covering. Everything about Bert was over the top. He even had his own style of sartorial splendor. If you were to describe Bert’s clothing style with just one word, that word would be “loud.”  Fans warmly embraced Bert’s eccentricities. In fact, they looked forward to them. It was part of the whole package. In public, Bert always sported his trademark fedora, cigar and beaming smile.

Bert told me privately once that he used his middle name Randolph on all of his books and articles as a way of paying tribute to his beloved mother, with whom he was very close. Bert always spoke lovingly of his parents and how they went out of their way to provide him with a world-class education.

Bert, unlike some writers, always displayed tremendous respect for all boxers. Boxers are outsiders in many ways. They often come from immigrant families and, as such, other areas of opportunity are closed to them for various reasons.  Boxing is the last refuge for the downtrodden and underprivileged. In boxing, your heritage or ethnicity doesn’t really matter. All that counts is if you can fight and Bert knew that implicitly.

Bert was always on, constantly sharing his stories and vast boxing knowledge with other writers and fans. It was his way of making sure his stories would one day outlive him. For instance, while having dinner with Angelo Dundee and Bert one night in New York, Bert leaned across the table and told me that Rocky Marciano had indeed lost a fight during his career to a fighter named Ted Lowry but the verdict was later changed to a unanimous decision in his favor thanks to pressure exerted on his behalf by the mob.

Bert was unfailingly kind to fans and aspiring boxing writers. He would go out of his way to put in a good word for any writer who asked for his help. Each year at Canastota, Bert would give daily talks on the Hall of Fame grounds to an appreciative and huge audience. In June 2011, Bert conducted an interview on the Hall grounds with his one of his all-time favorite boxers, George Chuvalo. George and Bert sat together and swapped stories for an hour with an appreciative audience roaring their approval with each anecdote. 

Bert Sugar was born June 7, 1937 in Washington, DC. Often when Bert would mention his birth date to an audience, he would pause and add, “No, I wasn’t wearing a fedora when I was born.” Bert didn’t start his life dreaming of becoming the most successful boxing author of all-time. His parents, like many Jewish parents, pushed Bert to get an education and then go into a profession, which could keep him employed for the remainder of his life.

Following his parent’s advice, Bert graduated from the University of Maryland. He then entered law school at the University of Michigan. Upon obtaining an MBA and a law degree from the University of Michigan, Bert successfully passed the bar in the District of Columbia. Bert practiced law for a very short time. He just didn’t enjoy it. He had an active mind and felt he was wasting his time remaining holed up in his law office while the world was passing him by. Bert always believed he was destined for greater things.

Pretty soon Bert relocated to New York, which changed his life for the better and provided him with constant excitement and satisfaction. Bert was an excitement junkie, always wanting to be where the action was, and always craving a great cigar, a great boxing match and, a great time.

The light in Bert’s mind was always on and he soon found his true passion – writing! Bert’s passion became his occupation. He loved writing. It was his reason for being.  In fact, he was a successful writer almost from the beginning. His first writing jobs had nothing to do with professional boxing, or sports in general.

It didn’t take Bert long after arriving in New York to find work in the burgeoning world of advertising. Bert shone in the world of jingles and slogans. His biggest success in the advertising world was the creation of the world famous Nestles jingle,  “N-E-S-T-L-E-S, Nestles makes the very best” advertising campaign, which was a monster hit all over the world and enriched his bank account many times over.

Bert had strong passion for and attraction to boxing and soon after moving to New York, he quickly became a recognized figure in the sport. You could always find Bert  ringside at Madison Square Garden, happily conversing with his literary peers. As the 1960’s came to a close, Bert felt he needed a regular platform for his boxing articles, stories and opinions. He fed his passion and love for pugilism by becoming the editor-in-chief of Boxing Illustrated. Bert’s writing style was very honest and unadorned although extremely descriptive.

Bert possessed an uncanny ability to take controversial fights and complex issues and make them easily understandable and interesting for all fight fans.  Bert’s books were always in demand due in part to his fluid, almost populist writing style. Bert usually injected a healthy dose of humor into his prose, which was readily apparent in his books and articles. Bert’s sense of humor was very attractive to all of his readers. In person Bert was a very funny man and rather self-deprecating. He always took his boxing writing seriously, but he never took himself seriously.

When it came to writing about boxing, Bert had several rules, which governed his prose. He steadfastly believed in keeping prose simple as possible. He also remarked that there should be an element of fun in your prose. If you are enjoying writing it then the reader will no doubt enjoy reading it.  One of Bert’s other rules was that a writer should know his/her topic intimately.  Factual errors were unforgivable in Bert’s opinion. 

Bert was the most prolific boxing writer the sport has ever seen. He has written over 80 books on the sport of boxing, which is a staggering total to say the least. I remember asking Angelo Dundee how on earth did Bert write 80 separate books on boxing? Angelo response was like Bert’s writing, terse and to the point. Angelo told me, “Bert writes books like most men use the washroom. Early and often!”

Some of the boxing books that Bert penned were, Sting Like a Bee, Inside Boxing, and The 100 Greatest Boxers of All Time. Bert also wrote hundreds of articles for the finest (sports) magazines in the world. His writing has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Sports Business Journal and The New Yorker.

Bert took great enjoyment from his work as a longtime contributor to HBO.  Sugar was no stranger to the Silver Screen either, appearing in Rocky, Play it to the Bone, Night and the City and The Great White Hype. Bert was a highly decorated writer and author, receiving the 1990 Boxing Writers Association of America's Nat Fleischer Award for "Excellence in Boxing Journalism." Bert was a much sought after expert in many documentaries, such as “Unforgivable Blackness,” the PBS documentary about the black heavyweight world champion, Jack Johnson.

Bert’s contributions to the sport of boxing as a writer, author and broadcast commentator are immeasurable and will most certainly live forever. As long as fight fans continue to read about boxing, Bert Sugar will always be their favorite writer. His typewriter may no longer be active but his words will remain with us for a long time to come.